Let's talk about what's really important........Fashion? As the fitness industry has changed over the years, so to has the fashion industry that caters to it. No more sweat pants and hanes t-shirts to work out in. The fitness industry now has several options to workout in. Nike doesn't make just shoes anymore. Armani has a line of fitness clothes. So what is the best? Well what ever you feel comfortable in for starters.Here's my 2 cents worth:

Nike: much like polo the Nike brand never goes out of style. Often copied, never replicated. Nike provides different styles for men and women. I love their shoes. Nike is no longer just running shoes. With the explosion of Michael Jordan several years ago Nike has marketed itself to all sports. running,tennis,football,baseball,basketball,golf,swimming,soccer,cycling, and jsut about everything else. I like Nike clothing. Sometimes it doesn't last so long. My fiance tells me they make the best jog bras.

Stella McCartney: Well..............it's expensive. Sometimes clothing designers overcomplicate things. It's workout clothes afterall. Who really needs all those zippers and pleats? I'm told their workout bags are amazing but the clothes never fit quite right.

Puma: I actually think Puma has some real stylish stuff. Their clothes are made a little more for fashion then they are for working out. Puma has made some good shoes. Bold colors and very sleek lines.Very affordable.

UnderArmor: I love the UnderArmor story. Started by a bunch of young guys out of the back of their car. They made spandex look tough. They are geared a little more for men but I have been seeing some Under Armor clothes for women out there. UA makes their clothing for practicality. If it's usefull they include it. One drawback. They will start retain that"sweat smell" after a while.Also if you don't like spandex, UA has made sure to include some nice dry fit loose fitting options.

LULU Lemon:I gotta say I wasn't a big fan of this stuff in the beginning. LULU Lemon was more geared towards yoga. On top of that they were expensive. One visit to the LULU Lemon store changed all of that. Aside from kickboxing and MMA shorts and shirts, LULU Lemon is the only , I repeat only fitness clothing I wear. I love it. It fits perfectly. It's made out of all natural fibers. And I swear it will never stink. Their clothing is built for,style,comfort,and support. Yes they still make yoga clothes. They also make so much more. I literally physically walk my clients over to LULU Lemon to get clothes sometimes. I have never had a disappointed client. Even the frugal men have to admit the clothes are the best.

Now back to that whole fitness thing I do. No gym no problem. Karen is demoing a leg routine that anyone can do in their home. Starting tomorrow You'll actually see some posts of me getting tortured. And yes I'll be wearing LuLu Lemon shorts.

A CHALLENGE FOR EVERYONE

I love a good challenge. In my quest for the ultimate burn I came across an idea based on MMA(mixed martial arts) conditioning. An MMA fight usually last 3 or 5 rounds of five minutes per round. Take that time frame and there lies your workout. 5 minutes.

Take 5 different exercises and perform them for 1 minute each at full intensity with no break. 5 minutes that's all.

Now lets expand on that concept. First 5 minute round; Nothing but push movments. Five different push exercises performed for 1 minute each. No break.

Meg performs each exercise here for 30 seconds. No break. I'm telling you she is a badass. She makes us all look bad.

Round 1

1. decline spiderman pushups
2. depth plyometric pushups
3. side to side(stiff arm)
4. dips
5. alternating shoulder press

Two minutes after I filmed this Meg did all exercises for 1 minute each and then washed it all down with a 5 mile run. Completely insane!

Many years ago there was a movie called "Perfect" that came out. It starred John Travolta as a Rollingstone reporter doing a story on dating in and around the then gym industry. Jamie Lee Curtis starred as an aerobics instructor. Word is they tried in vain to get Olivia Newton John to do it(she had just released the song "physical") but she turned it down. The point of my little reflection is that the concept behind "aerobics classes" has changed so much in the past 20-30 years. At the very least leg warmers are out! So to is the unitard. Thank God.

These days you aren't limited to a few choriographed moves on the step to get a good workout. At the same time using the step can be benificial to anyone. Could you imagine 25 years ago if Arnold was usuing a step to get his legs in shape. Blasphemy! Only weights can get your legs in shape. Untrue. Very untrue.

I love the step. I make all of my clients men and women alike use it to some degree. You can buy an aerobic step at any walmart,target, or Academy these days. I highly suggest getting one if you have ahome gym.

Karen is shown doing a plyometric leg circuit here. try doing 1 minute of each exercise she does in succession without any break. Miserable!

How fast is too fast?

About 15 years ago I started seeing a ton of people wearing heartrate monitors while exercising. You can pretty much buy them anywhere these days. I actually saw one at Randalls in their health isle. What I get asked a great deal is "what should my hearrate be when I'm exercising?" Two questions you need to ask yourself.

What's your resting heartrate?

What's is your fitness level?

If you get winded walking up a flight of stairs I would suggest seeing a doctor before you start plugging in numbers to a heart rate training program. If you are a competitive athlete your numbers will be slightly different.

So lets take someone who is 36 and in good physical conditioning.(LIKE ME!!!)

Max Heart rate: This is the maximal ammount of times your heart can beat in one minute. There are a few factors to this (age,gender,fitness level). The rule of thumb for this 220-age for those who are fit you can try 205-1/2age. With both of these formulas in mind a MHR for a fit 36 year old can be 220-36=184 or 205-18=187

With that number in mind you can set your training into 1 of 4 training zones.

Very Light or Daily activity zone: 50-60% of MHR This is a great zone for beginners,people recovery sessions, or someone comming off a layoff. This zone should be easy and shouldn't leave you out of breath

Exercise for Health zone:60-70%of MHR This is typically called the "fitness zone" This zone will help strengthen your heart. It will also increase the sum total of small blood vessels in your extremities. It increases metabolism by increasing the enzymes in your muscles.

Aerobic Or Exercise for Fitness Training zone: 70-85% of MHR. This is the zone that is commonly referred to as the Target Heartrate Training zone(THR). This zone improves overall endurance as well as raising the speed your body can exercise at without building lactate.

Improved -Performance Training Zone:85-100% of MHR. At this point you are training at a level that is between you're aerobic and anaerobic zone.A very fit person will be training at or near their anaerobic threshhold. This is the zone used for sprints,hill training,breakaways,and time trialing. This style of training will increase your muscles tolerance to very large ammounts of lactic acid.

Think about these 4 zones and where you want your specific training to be. When all else fails try doing pushups for a minute........or run a hill.

Variety! If you are as old as me you remember the old step classes where about 30 people in unison did the same workout. It was a well thought out program that looked amazingly choreographed. These days the concept behind group fitness has changed a little. sure you can still do that same kind of class where everyone is doing the same thing or you can try a class where you use several different stations to mix it up. Much like a circuit. Circuit classes started off as weight machine classes where clients went from machine to machine in order to get a full body workout. Now, these classes resemble obstacle courses. In Austin Fitness Extreme I take that circuit concept and blow it up a little. If you look at this picture you can see the varying exercises that half of the class is doing.

What Else Can You Do?

You've got to be kidding me! Seriously? Where the hell did you come up with that? That's just twisted. I hate you. These are all the remarks I get from people I tell to do the seemingly impossible. Mind over matter. You're only as tough as your last workout. Ok that is silly. The truth is some hurdles are meant to be jumped over. We all have that hurdle that we hesitate 1 extra second longer than we should. Ok maybe this is a metaphor for lfe.

When I first met Lee he was as gym member. He worked out regularly but nothing special. You know, push ,pull,squat,crunch. he always wore these horrible wife beater tank tops. One day I grabbed him and few other guys and said "lets try something new."

Lee is a bonifide maniac now. He is doing things that I find difficult. He has watched his diet, become inventive with his workouts, and just blazed past me in cardio conditioning.

What's his motivation? Maybe to make me look bad. Whatever it is , it's working for him. On this day I caught Lee after he had done an hour workout and asked him to try this simple task. It goes to show that with a willing mind and capable body...........Tom can convince you to try anything.

Try this at home

5 squat thrust with 12lb weights

10 squat thrusts with 10 lb weights

20 squat thrusts with 5 lb weights